Sex Pistols Frontman Knew Sid Vicious Lacked Talent When Hiring Him

05/04/2015.

(Classic Rock) John Lydon says he knew Sid Vicious had no musical talent when he joined the Sex Pistols - but the vocalist thought it would develop the same way his own had.

He invited Vicious to become the band's bassist in 1977 - kickstarting a chain of events that led to his death of a heroin overdose two years later, while under suspicion of having murdered girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

Lydon tells Rolling Stone: "Sid was very, very lazy. He had no work ethic - he never learned anything, and by all accounts he had no aptitude for music at all.

"It's curious why I brought him in. It must have been some kind of self-destructive element. But I never had any aptitude until I started. I thought, 'That's how it will work. You'll find your way.'

"He got all the postures dead right - he could stare into a mirror for ever." Read more here.